


Crisis Catch & Carry

by Anonymous



Category: Medabots
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Suspense, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:34:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24285169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: He's not in over his head. Not tonight.
Relationships: Agata Hikaru | Henry & Tenryou Ikki
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6
Collections: Anonymous





	Crisis Catch & Carry

"Ikki! Ikki, wait!"

The boy had such good intentions but damn, Hikaru had lost track of the number of times he'd let himself be dragged into whatever troubles Ikki had wrapped himself up in. Nerves steeled, he exhaled. It was something he was at least partially responsible for. Metabee, the metal he'd lost in blackened waters... How much trouble had _that_ caused, save the schoolground fights any kid his age fell prey to?

No time to dial Doctor Aki, Hikaru withdrew a yellow keytag from the shelf, rattled a signature on the time-sheet and rushed the last of the stragglers out of Hop Mart from their magazine perusals. "It's an emergency. I'm very sorry, We'll be open late tonight to make up for it." Smock tied tightly, he pulled a jacket over and dimmed the lights then snapped the door and took chase in the drizzly rain.

Oranges bloomed over the western skies where cloud broke the last of the sunset. What shitty timing. Even as the street-lights flickered to life for the evening, it wouldn't be enough for the blackened alleys.

He stumbled into a middle-aged woman, her gaudy magenta dressings and heels clacking together in disdain. "Pardon, ma'am, has a kid passed by here recently? Red shirt, tied back hair?"

"A little thief, then!" She straightened up, "Why, yes. Straight at the crossroads and left. I'll notify police at the next payphone, dearie."

"Oh, no no, please, just—have a good evening. Thank you." He hadn't even finished lifting his head in apology when an explosion burst, enough to rattle the windows from a few blocks over. Smoke rolled skyward and Hikaru cracked his neck at the speed in which he turned.

Straining, he caught sight of the landmark towers just below, ingrained with the knowledge it came from one of the long-standing trouble points from his mantle as Phantom Thief. He could hear the patterned breaks of machine guns and heavy artillery, and scanned the skies for shattered glass and stray bullets.

Unfiltered chaos. Commuters errantly blocked his path in their stupor, a rush to get far away from the gunfire as Hikaru forced his way toward it. A young woman screamed, clutched his arm and tried to tear him away to safety. Her groceries smacked his jaw.

"You don't understand, I— my friend, I need to—"

He didn't trust his voice, thickened with dread as he made his choice, shoved her off and ran. Fire pumped his legs as the crowd gave him a wider birth.

Eyes shut.

 _What type, KBT? JEL?_ At least 500 rounds had fired, over a minute's worth. This was...

"Give him back, you jerks!"

He could have wept. In a gasp, he coiled a grip on the corner and hauled himself around. His left eardrum blared, deafened by the streak of whatever whizzed centimetres from his neck.

"Get down!"

One beat, a shift of rubber on the heel of his stupid shoe with next-to-no traction for all the sky was falling, and Hikaru tackled the boy by the shoulder, into the wall.

He couldn't breathe, the weight of fumbled, tangled limbs kicked against his chest. He didn't even care, just clung tightly until the barrage ran out. Ikki shook in some combination of sloppy tears—anguish, rage. Nails dug into his sleeve.

Hikaru coughed, debris thrown from his hair, and blindly reached out for the curb again. When he felt the wet cement bite into his palm, the sting of gravel, he pulled as hard as he could and managed to upright himself and Ikki in one go.

The boy scraped himself free but not before Hikaru caught him by the arm.

"You idiot, _what were you thinking?_ " The hiss was pain, mostly. Hikaru blinked haphazardly, a sad attempt to hold a glare while he tried to work the dust from his eyes.

"It's Metabee! They got his metal."

A stiffened hand swept through his bangs. Metabee was priceless to him, too, but there was common sense to account for and, "Rushing in blindly is only going to get you both hurt." He was able to squint his eyes, now face-to-face with a kid just as covered in dust and

Oh shit. That wasn't water. In a cold sweat, he patted himself down to check for injury, his brow creased deeper for every part that didn't burn. Fervent _are you okays_ met with stubborn affirmations. With renewed fire, he twisted back to the enemy.

Taking to his feet, he peeled a piece of metal shrapnel from the curb and turned to the entourage himself, tension high over every muscle.

"Sorry," Ikki's voice, warm breath muffled into his side as he drove a free arm across.

"Not now."

He twisted his wrist on instinct to transport Arcbeetle, the glow of the screen just as absent as his watch. He was still Hikaru. Shit. Shit shit _shit_. Why did this always happen?

The familiar sing of police siren blared into his working ear. Red and blue lights pulsed along the walls. Any minute, they'd be surrounded.

One of the neo Robos scattered, the two that knew better rolled a package shut and pitched the Kabuto type on its side, the compartment lock on the metal scuffed but still in place.

Ikki cried out in affront by the shoddy handling and Hikaru just bit more of a grip onto his shoulder. They were in no shape to draw this kind of attention. Walls this badly damaged? Even the steel mangled. Metabee put up a hell of a fight, but what that implied of the enemy...

"Get him. Let's go."

The boy scrambled to lift Metabee on his back. Hikaru gave one more look to the oncoming police cars before he hoisted the boy up himself and darted into the alley.

"What? We're running?"

"Yeah, you dummy, that was your bot's ranged explosives. I don't have the money for that and don't fancy spending a night in the cells on collateral. Doctor Aki can sort it out later." Well. That was a lie.

At the end of the street, when his legs were effectively lead, it dawned on him, "They still have his metal, don't they?"

"Yeah," the defeat was so clear in the kid's voice. He felt Ikki's grip tighten against his shoulder as Metabee's lulled head pricked his back. He eased the boy down.

"Can you walk?" A nod. "Hop Mart is right around the corner. Take my keys and go call your parents." He made a twist motion with his hand, then folded the fob into an open palm. "That's how you bypass the coin requirement on the pay line."

"What are you gonna do?"

"I'm going to call in some favours." _And hope to all things good that no one hears shuffling in the back on these dead feet._ Ol' reliable Retort.


End file.
